January 2006

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean

January 10, 2006

GameCube / Reviews / by Kris VanHaaren Make a comment! / Tweet it!

As we all know, the GameCube has gotten the short end of the stick as far as the amount of games produced for this generation of consoles. More specifically, the Cube has only received a handful of RPG’s, although the majority of them ([i]Tales of Symphonia[/i], [i]Paper Mario[/i], [i]Skies of Arcadia Legends[/i], etc.) are very good titles. Well, now you can add to this list Namco’s latest: [i]Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean[/i].

[i]BK[/i] takes you on a journey as the guardian spirit of an angst-filled young lad by the name of Kalas. Kalas and his band of companions are on a journey to avenge his family’s death and to prevent the resurrection of the evil god, Malpercio. While it isn’t exactly original, Namco does pretty well making the story unique and adding some very good plot twists to keep you interested.

[i]BK[/i] displays some of the best looking visuals you will find on the GameCube. The pre-rendered backgrounds are absolutely beautiful, although some (village made out of construction paper anyone?) are extremely odd. The character models as well as the environments show a good amount of detail. The menus are easy on the eyes and are very easy to navigate. Spells used in combat have some dazzling particle effects, but you will most likely be too focused on the combo system to really enjoy them. The biggest gripe I have is that all the cutscenes are done with the in-game graphics. I think it would’ve been a very nice touch to see some FMV goodness at least a few times throughout the game.

[i]BK[/i] is a traditional turn-based RPG at heart, but it does have a bit of a spin to it. Rather than using weapons and armor, you use magnus cards. Magnus cards are used to trap the A

Black & White 2

January 10, 2006

PC / Reviews / by KindDragon Make a comment! / Tweet it!

[i]Black and White[/i] is very similar to [i]Caesar[/i] or [i]Civilization[/i]. The game is all about a god (you!) who takes the path of good or evil to bring about salvation or destruction to the people who need help. God is given a creature to control or train, depending if you want a laborer on a command leash or a free-spirited pet on the freewill leash. Both you and your pet can learn spells and are able to cast them with just a flick of the mouse. You must build towns, armies and fields all while keeping your people happy. There are also optional quests which are usually just tutorials, puzzles or goals. You are also guided by your conscience, good and evil, but you can just as easily ignore them as you choose fit.

At first, this game is hard to understand as well as maneuver. If you had played the prequel, you would find the controls and atmosphere very similar. However, if one is used to most other PC games, some of the controls may seem awkward and take time to master completely. A good feature of this game is that it starts with a basic yet action-packed tutorial and gets harder as the game progresses, which is about the same pace that someone new to the game would improve. Once the player learns what all the buildings, features and creatures do, the game becomes a lot more fun.

The graphics are fairly improved from the prequel and look even snazzier with the graphic detail turned up to full. This game requires a fairly recent video card to even run, and as such I had to buy a new card. The detail is uncanny. One can zoom in until you are at the feet of a villager in your town, or go as high as a god might. Some buildings, such as the tavern, can even be explored right to the bartender serving the drinks to your thirsty villagers.

The music is not distracting, and I find it suiting to the game. Sound effects are also fun and not annoying. The weirdest sound is the word A

Hellgate: London – Roper’s New Baby

January 10, 2006

Features / Interviews / by Jason Dobson Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Hellgate: London is a first-person action RPG for the PC from the mind of Bill Roper the talented folks at Flagship Studios. The game puts players in the midst of a demon-infested London cityscape where they must take up arms and do battle with the denizens of Hell. Among the many innovative aspects introduced by the game, Hellgate: London will feature a completely randomized world that offers a unique experience every time you play. Recently we had the opportunity to speak with Bill Roper regarding his newest creation.

Thank you for taking the time to speak with us regarding Hellgate: London. This is a title that has intrigued us since it was announced, and after going hands on with it at E3 I have to say I was left wanting more. How would you say the game is coming along? Any recent developments you’d like to talk about?

Hellgate: London is coming along great, and the past couple of months have seen a lot of things get into the game. We made a push right before Halloween for a party we were throwing where we let our friends play, so it was important that we have a host of new monsters, items and skills in. Between then and now we’ve added more of everything – monsters, skills, weapons, armor, monster AI, backgrounds – the works. We’re also working on completing the storyline and breaking down the key parts into a quest structure. There are basically a ton of ideas and content flowing into the game right now, so there is literally something new every day.

I know you probably don’t want to set expectations, only to have to disappoint fans, but has the team managed to nail down a delivery date for the game, or perhaps even a window when you expect it to ship?

We have an internal window we are working towards, and while it is looking good at this point, it is still too early to talk about when that is. You hit the nail on the head when you mentioned not wanting to disappoint fans. We know that there is a lot of excitement over the game and that expectations are high – and that goes for both our community and us here at Flagship Studios! We’re definitely playing it on the safe side in regards to the release date because we want to do everything we can to meet and exceed the expectations we set. We’re still far enough out where a release date, or even a window, would be educated guesswork. Trust me – as soon as we have a handle on a date we think we can honestly hit, we’ll announce it.

For those not up to speed on what you and your team are doing with Hellgate: London, can you give us some background as far as where the idea came from and what the game will entail?

The official marketing spiel reads, A

Hello Ars Readers

January 10, 2006

News / by Chris Rasco Make a comment! / Tweet it!

The GBA/DS Cover Project has been by far our most popular contribution to date. It has been featured on so many other sites and even in Edge Magazine. Last week it was posted on [url=http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2006/1/8/2400]Ars Technica[/url] so I just wanted to give a quick hello to all the new Ars readers.

A look back at game controllers

January 10, 2006

News / by Wayne Phinney Make a comment! / Tweet it!

This is quite an interesting look back and controllers of the past, and naturally, at the Revolution’s controller. For those who haven’t gotten enough Revolution controller goodness, this is another piece well worth taking a look at.

Source: [url=http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1980&Itemid=2]Next-Gen.biz[/url]

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